What do you think?

[bacali]

So what did you all think about the first Survivor? I read it was the lowest rating Survivor yet

I thought I'd like it better with Boston Rob on the show, but, I honestly felt the way Sandra and Rob are on this island giving advice was stupid.
You get chosen and boat ride to the Island of Idols and out pop Rob and Sandra. ..kind of ...as I said stupid. But,
I usually have to warm into a show since the first show is always hard to follow the cast.
So, I do hope it gets better after coming off this BB season. I have huge expectations for Survivor!

[Outlast]

I was away when it aired and only just watched the premiere so here are my thoughts:

I enjoyed the Rob/Sandra twist. That’s a surprise because I thought the whole idea was stupid when I first heard it and maybe it’s still a bit... off. But I really enjoyed seeing Sandra again especially and my favorite bit was them sneaking into a spy shack at tribal council to listen in and comment on the players! I don’t know how I’ll feel about this twist in a few weeks but for right now I had fun with it.

Orange Tribe (them who lost)
I don’t know that it’s your best move to vote out one of your strongest guys first but I loved it. It was the right move for Vince, Elaine and Tom for sure but the rest maybe not? We’ll see. This season feels like it will be a twist fest so it probably behooves most of these players to vote based on personality and allegiance rather than challenge strength. Survivor just isn’t the same game as it used to be.

Purple Tribe (them who won)
Most of my focus here is on Janet and how well she did! She was such obvious first boot on her tribe and she knew it so she has done everything she can to prove her worth and I think it’s working fairly well. Grappling hooks are hard o master so kudos to her for not only stepping up but in getting it to hook right away. Again it’s not an easy thing to do and it was way risky for her, but she knew she needed to step up and dang it she did.she also joins the short list of people who made fire without matches, flint or a glass lense of some kind. It’s probably a very short list.

[ponytail]

I kind of enjoyed the island of the idols. Hard to keep it secret, though. Wondering how long it will be kept so, and wondering if it will cause alliances because of shared knowledge, or target those who keep the secret. Could be interesting! I didn't mind their commentary. Any Boston Robb time is good time in my book.
I really liked Elaine. She reminds me of many people I know, and her sense of humor will make it an entertaining season for as long as she lasts.
We will see if my first impressions last beyond the next show!

[Snowbird]

I like Elaine too and was glad she stayed.
On the Island of Idols I haven't formed an opinion yet but wondered too how long it will stay a secret. 

[Outlast]

Man this season is going great so far! Two exciting and satisfying boots so far! I’ve heard that the casting  hanged starting this season and it shows. More married people. More misfits. Fewer bikini babes. I’m digging this cast so far.

[ponytail]

You and me both! Seems like a recipe for a good season! Although I have formed no real favorites, it is nice to have several to choose from in this cast.

[Snowbird]

There are some smart girls on this cast.  They got rid of the nice looking one right away.  Smart move.

[Outlast]

More excitement as the women on the orange tribe choose Tom over Vince. I realized as it was happening that I really like Tom and have no problem losing Vince in his stead. The real question with orange tribe is why, if the women have decided to stick together, would they vote out Vince (or Tom) over Aaron or Dean? By forming an all women's alliance they have already somewhat given up the fight for challenge strength because its fairly clear that the weakest players on this tribe are female (Karishma notably terrible this week). So why not cut one of their big dudes (especially Aaron who bears them a grudge) now?

Karishma as I said was terrible this week both at the game and at the puzzle, but I would like to speak up for her a bit. It was so weird and awful that nobody appeared to comfort her in any way when she was hurt and that appeared to be a fairly serious cut especially in survival conditions, yet they showed them a few feet away seemingly uncaring of their tribemates pain. Not cool. Her reaction was extreme (saying they were dead to her) but I felt her pain. Feeling like no one cares about you is devastating and based on their actions when she was hurt it might even be true. True they voted out Vince instead of her, but they made no effort to keep the vote off her and it does seem like she's just a convenient number for them at the moment. It's sad.

People I liked in this episode:
Tom
Tommy
Sandra

People I disliked:
No one really. Though I think Jamal and Karishma's attitudes were very negative instead of adaptive. How Jack reacted to being left out is a far healthier game response then vowing vengeance or saying they're all dead to me. Just saying.

I love this cast! Casting made an effort this season to fill out more than bathing suits and it shows.

[Snowbird]

After that successful sneak into the other camp I hated to see Vince leave with a HII.  I liked him.
This is a great cast I think. 

[ponytail]

You and me both! It was a cool mission! I do like this cast a lot. Glad to see normal contestants.

[Outlast]

While that vote was certainly exciting... seems like a huge mistake not to take out the person they’ve all been alienating for the last week or so.

I don’t understand why at least ONE of those women couldn’t take the trouble to befriend Karishma and make her feel wanted. If they’re going to exclude her then they should boot her.

Granted she seems like a difficult personality but a little effort to make her feel like part of the group could’ve changed everything.

On the other side Nora’s island of the idols journey was hilarious from start to finish. Sitting her out of the challenge was the funniest part!

[Snowbird]

I don't understand why they are alienating Karishma .  Why don't some of them get her on their side for an extra vote?  Are they all so sure of their positions on the tribe that they don't think they need her.  They act like she isn't even human.  It is almost like bullying.
I can understand why Nora is on the outs.  She doesn't have common sense if she thought her approach to getting the caller position would work. 

[Outlast]

Maybe I’m a bit cranky because I liked Tom, but I’m actually bored with the constant blindsides. All this means is that the ENDGAME may be that much more boring with the biggest 'threat' going every week as they all struggle and fight over who gets to go to the end and win against Karishma and Nora.

The validity of the move depends on who you are. For the old purple tribe (minus maybe Nora) it was a fine move (providing they don't plan on winning ANY challenges) as they have three expendable people on their tribe in Karishma, Tom and Dean and they can't know for sure what will happen if the other tribe goes to tribal council with a four-four orange v. purple split. So I guess good for them on that front. However for me I'd much rather see them vote out Karishma so we can stop watching her struggled in challenges and to make the TV show more interesting. Also I think it's worth noting that if they do vote out Tom, Dean and Karishma, then at the merge when they join up with their old allies they may just find that the four orange players left have had time to form some new bonds on this new tribe and it could well fall that they may just target the new orange tribe people over the old orange tribe people just based on the more recent bonds they've formed.

On a positive note I enjoyed the Detective Dean Kowalsky bit early in the show. I still don’t care one way or another about Dean (probably wise given his odds of going home next week), but that was fun. Am I the only one who always thinks of Stargate when I hear the name Kowalsky? Probably.

As for next week no matter what the promos show it seems unlikely that the new purple tribe can lose with Karishma still on orange. So my prediction is that Dean goes next week and in the unlikely event that purple really does somehow against all odds lose, than I think it might be Elaine going. I just can't picture either Aaron or Missy going to rocks to save her and everybody seems to recognize the social threat she poses. So yeah. That could happen there.

[bacali]

Unfortunately, I have to agree with you about Karishma. She may be a very intelligent attorney, but, she plays Survivor terribly and has to go !
And, as far as this season having Rob and Sandra as mentors. ...boring! I find their jobs stupid.

[ponytail]

Kind of a blaaah episode. Although I did like the wrestling match! Island of the Idols doesn't live up to it's hype--and neither do Sandra and Rob. Maybe they have something else in mind, let's hope so!